I have a natural gas furnace that cannot seem to keep up when it is way below zero like this. Last night, the heat dropped to 60 degrees and then started getting warmer again, getting back up to 70 today. It took a few hours to do that. I do take this very seriously as I know I have to legally keep the temps above 67 at least.

I did let the two tenants know in advance that this may happen so they did not think it was the furnace not working. It was hoping it would never get that cold again and it would not be an issue in the future. It happened 2 years ago when the temp got way down to 45-50 below. I talked with my heating guy and he said the furnace has been working but just not able to keep up, probably because of weatherization/insulation settling over the years.

I took over an electric heater for each apartment. It seemed to help get the temp up and it has stayed up so far, even after tenant shut the electric heater off in the apartment with the thermostat for the building. . It just helped to boost the temp up so the furnace wasn't running 24/7. I did not know that this tenant had put the thermostat fan to the on position instead of auto, so it was running 24/7. I got it back over on auto and it got up to 70, shut off like it should, dropped to 69 and started again so it is working well right now. It has stayed at 70 now for several hours. Not sure how cold it will get in the apartments tonight. Another frigid evening again tonight. The heating guy did tell me that since all stoves in the building are electric, they can use the ovens if it gets too bad to heat the apartments up some. I am always nervous about electric heaters starting a fire, even new ones. I was also concerned that if I dropped off too many electric heaters, they would start tripping breakers since they pull so much electricity.

ANYWAY. I have not had to think about insulating an entire building since my late fiance and I bought our last one in 2002. I have no idea what method is the most popular now without breaking the bank. Back then, cellulose blow-in was the most popular, followed by laying down the fiberglass which I am allergic to.

Anything better out there these days, without breaking the bank. It has been a tough 12 months. I want to get through this frigid spell the next few days and then hopefully when we get more above zero temps, it will be ok until spring when I can hopefully have the funds to have it insulated.

Need more information.

1) What year house built?

2) Existing insulation...type and R-value

3) Insulation in walls?

4) Are you sure your furnace is big enough?

IMO, blown in cellulose is still best option. I would imagine in WI that R-42 is code on new homes. I do my own....easy but messy. Make sure you have sufficient soffit vents and install rafter vents in at least every other joist space. Buy cheap 1x2s, cut them to about 22” long. Using a THICK BLACK PERMANENT marker, make a zero line about 4” up on each board. Make your next line 2.75” above that, then make a line every 2” starting with a number based on rafter size. If you have 2x10, your first “measured” line should be 12”....this is because a 2x10 is 9.75” tall, and you made your first measured line 2.75” up from the zero starting line.

When you screw these to the rafters in random spaced out locations, match your lowest line with the top of each rafter. Then get geared up and start blowing...the sticks will allow u to easily see your depth as you work. Be VERY careful not to block the soffit vents as you blow it in.

I’ve done this on about a dozen homes. I mount the wood sticks on a day before I borrow the blower from Lowe’s....that way I just bow and go...takes about 1.5 hours to do a 1,000 sqft attic. Lowe’s gives blower free so long as you buy certain amount of insulation.

Have a helper to feed the hopper.

Ken.

This is a 3 unit rural property about 5 miles outside a smaller city.

My other 3 properties are in the small city. I think it is either a state or federal law to maintain 67 degrees.

Thankfully, the city doesn't really interfere much in rentals. The fire inspection happens every once in awhile but I have never been there while it was done to wherever they had access. I have never had one fail.

Hoosier. Thanks for all the info. I would not be doing it myself. At 66 and not the best health wise, I am just not interested in trying to do the more difficult, physical labor type work anymore, like I used to do for many years.

I would not have a clue on most of your questions. I think the building would be at least 100 yrs old. Cellulose was blown into the walls and attic probably back around 1992-1993 or so, when we bought it. I am sure the R value is very low at this point.

I have had my heating company for some time. I don't think they installed the furnace as I had 3 different companies at different times. I really like the one I have know. They have never said they thought the existing one was too small. I will have to check the date installed on the furnace to remember when I got it installed. I know he explained about the furnace choice is based on the R value and one bought years ago that kept up, may not be able to keep up later, if the R value was less because of insulation settling, windows and doors getting older with more air leaks, etc.

Sorry, had no idea of your age or skills.

Wow...hard to believe it’s not keeping up when you’ve already insulated walls and ceiling. Something else may be going on. Insulation does settle, but not so much that it would cause the issue you are having. I’d have someone check all the ducting...you might have one disconnected or maybe some are rusted so much there are holes in them.

One other thing you might consider is whether the ducting is insulated...assuming its in a crawl space.

Lastly, consider foam plates behind switch and outlet covers to reduce drafts.

Let us know what you find.

Here is something That we have used in the past and found very helpful is see if your local government provides for doing an energy audit and using a blower door.In our state its free. If not you probably can hire a enery audit company that does that. It's amazing how leaky a house is. I believe the EPA says that a house should have the complete air exchange every two hours for good ventalation. With Some houses this happens every half an hour. The reason why your house doesn't get all that cold in that fast air exchange is because the mass in your house has a lot of energy stored realeasing heat.

But it does eat up a lot of energy trying to keep your house warm. So what we do is our own sort of blower door. We use a high-capacity fan,.. they are about $50 or so at Home Depot or Amazon. We place it in a window and tape the plastic shroud around it with an opening a little smaller than the shroud cut out. So when you turn on the fan you get a vacuum the house. You might do this on a not quite so cold day but then feel around outlets, moldings, doors, and windows for any leaking air coming in. By the way if the fan is on the ground floor go outside and feel the air coming out of your house. Generally it's quite a wind. That's the amount of your coming into your house! Note that and after you do your caulking/air sealing you will still probably feel a lot of air coming out of your house but it should be less. It's hard to get all the leaks. Oh make sure your furnace is off and you may even do the same with a fuel operated water heater. Stuffing some insulation into the vent/exhaust pipe of the furnace and the hot water heater with a big note on both to make sure to take those out before you turn them back on.

For caulking we like to use DAP's thirty-year clear caulk. By the way it looks terrible when you first put it on as its Milky white but then it dries pretty clear and looks much, much better. When we get an apartment building we do this and once it's done, it's done. If we have a house including my own house we reverse the fan blowing in and fill the house up with theatrical smoke. These are the fogger's that are sold very often at Walmart for Halloween spooky effects. They are non-toxic and we stand outside of that the house and fill it up with the smoke,.. it doesn't take too long you can pick them up really cheaply right after Halloween for half price or less. I have a couple of them. Turning them both on in different parts of the house. Then with a wireless remote and standing outside return the big fan now the house is pressurized. And you can see where the smoke is emitting from your house. It's surprising where it does. By the way you might have to explain to your local fire department what you are doing and exactly when as somebody may call in the fact that they see smoke coming out of your house. Pretty embarrassing to have all these fire trucks show up. What we then do is seal the outer envelope of these leaks which also helps.Note On a very cold day there is a lot pressure of air trying to come into your house. Take some clear plastic and tape it over a window or two and notice how much it bulges out on a cold day even though you think your window is pretty draft free.

Once in awhile Los Angeles has it's cold spells, below freezing. I've had tenants complain and wanted me to rebuild my building to modern standards -- a purposed $100,000 per unit. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

So instead I purchased 100 each small sized thermometers on a stand. I placed them in many rooms of the apartment that the tenants were complaining about. On the window edge on the inside portion of where the blinds sit. On on an inside wall around 3 feet off the ground. And on the ceiling in the center of the room attached to the ceiling fans chain.

This way I got to see many situations having the tenants record the temperatures every hour.

I also came over using my expensive thermo imaging camera and was able to see the cold spots in the walls.

What I tried to do is have my tenants use logic. They are stubborn and will not cooperate. I wanted to move their beds from an outside wall to an inside wall. I also made up some ridgid foil covered foam sheets to put inside the window frame to block out some of the drafts.

I even had insulation blown into the exterior walls. I purchased some area rugs and put them down on covering the hardwood flooring to keep cold air out.

I used 3 units as an experiment. When A tenant wants to help and curve the chill transfer from exterior walls to the interior, I can raise the temperature over 10 degrees without turning on the heat. Then when the furnance is turned on, within 30 minutes it has to be turned down, too warm...

Oh yeah we also have our own infra red camera. They have come way down in price I think we spent $450 for one that works really well. There are more expensive and sophisticated ones that energy audit companies use but we find the one we have is adequate.. I understand now that you can buy a gizmo that you can put on a cell phone that also works pretty well for 200 to $300. You can see where insulation is missing from both looking first inside the house and then outside the house. If you scan outside the house make sure it's a calm day as it would affect your results.

But as said before, cellulose settling does happen but it shouldn't be all that much to affect things all that much.

We haven't had to use much for electric space heaters but if I were to buy any I would get the oil filled radiators. They have much less capacity for starting fires from stupid tenant actions.

You mentioned less capacity to do this work yourself, so if you can find some workers to help you out, what we have used before a couple of teenagers who are fairly handy in learning how to caulk without making a mess and really good about finding leaks, with a damp hand. Sometimes we have used a little bundle of two or three incense sticks as they smoke a lot and you can see the air coming in from that smoke blowing away from them. That's if you really trust somebody to use a glowing something in the house. It would be hard to start a fire with them but not impossible.

As an addendum to the blower door we try to put the high-capacity fan in the window in a common area sale on the first floor then we close all the interior room doors in the unit and then one by one we pop open the door very slightly and feel the air coming out of that room. Then we accent our efforts on the worst room. After a while you should feel a lot less air coming out of that room. And then we go on to the next worse room. If you have a couple of workers/teenagers they make sort of a game out of it because they can see and measure how well they've done.

I have found that they usually get enthused about finding them and fixing them...

Maybe provide one of those finned, oil filled space heaters (about $50 new).

Do nothing else at the moment. The cold will pass in a few days and all will return to normal.

Tell tenants nothing will keep up when temperatures get that cold. That's the way it is in the north. Suggest if they can't take a few days at 60 degrees maybe they should move to Florida. Remind them that the other 350+ days of the year things are just fine.

Also, you could tell them that if they really want perfect temperatures every single day of the year, you can have a whole bunch done to try and get it done, but you will need to raise rent at least $300 a month to cover it. I predict they will say they can put on a sweater.

As an example, one time I lived in an old farmhouse in northern Wisconsin (town of Webster) and it got really cold (like 45-50 below zero) for a week. With the heater on the highest setting it was only 32 degrees inside the house. We used thermal long johns and long sleeve shirts 24/7 with heavy shirts and sweaters plus a couple extra blankets on the beds. In a week, temps moderated and everything was back to normal.

Yes! air infiltration!! You would be surprised how a few hours of air sealing will help! Yrs get some help.

You have some excellent tips on how to do it here!

but on a cold day at least for now,..the pressure of that cold air pushing in, you don't need a blower door or a fan at least on the first attempt,..you can do a more complete job later.

Well another thing I've done to keep more heat into "the envelope". As you know heat rises and keeping the floors a little warmer can help. So what I've done is wire a fan or two to come on when the heat gun comes on. An electrician can do it for you. The fan/S are directed to the exhaust of the furnace to blow across as much of the piping as possible. Usually on a gas furnace you don't have a Barometric draft Controller but if it does make sure the fan doesn't blow on that to affect a change on it.

Generally we use a pedestal fan on one part of it and perhaps a box fan which is securely hung to blow on another part of the exhaust. What this does is it pulls out some of the heat that would be just be going up the stack. In most cases you don't have to worry about it pulling out so much he that the draft the chimney is affected. I have a draft gage and I've checked it and found that it does a very minimal effect on the draft.

But generally the cellar becomes warmer. Sometimes 5° and as much is 10° or more. Otherwise this heat would be wasted going up the stack. Especially when it's very cold in the furnace is running almost constantly it pulls a lot of the into the cellar... by the way you also want to check for air infiltration in the cellar,.. generally you can fix those even easier and you can't usually do so much air sealing there that the furnace starves for air but after you're done you may have your furnace technician, do a quick check to see if all is running okay.

Of course you should have a CO AND a smoke alarm there, in general but these things should not effect things negatively.

another thing you can do as a very temporary fix and if you're tenants are open to it explaining to them that you're trying your best to keep them warm in this crazy cold is go to Staples or similar and get a roll of bubblewrap and temporarily tape it with gentle tape onto the Windows of course on the inside. Window glass is your big heat loss in just about any building. Yes you could put foam boards over the Windows instead but that would make the unit dark and probably not pleasant to your tenants. The bubblewrap isn't quite as good but if you have a thermal camera and compare two windows one would bubblewrap the one with out you can see how the transfer of heat thru the bubble wrap is much lower.

Thanks for all the info, everyone.

I told my tenants yesterday after checking in, that I would do what I could to get them through this cold spell.

The heating company owner told me that since the kitchen cooking stoves are all electric, they can use the ovens to help warm up their units from time to time. I did not want them running the ovens 24/7.

With a heater in each apartment, I checked in with one this morning where the thermostat is, and she said she got up before 6 as usual and it was 66 in there. Furnace was at 67 when I talked to her around 9. Hopefully it did not get lower than 66 which is tolerable. I asked her if she had the heater on and she said no that she didn't need it yet. She is 76 yrs old. Just texted the upper tenant to see if the use of the oven and the heater, was helping it stay warmer up there. She said it was a bit warmer with the heater. Not sure if she used the oven or not. She said she doesn't feel cold air coming into the apt anywhere specifically as I had asked. Just don't want to lose her as a tenant. I know the one downstairs will stay there a long time.

The exterior basement walls are rock/sandstone I believe. I noticed a few days ago that the basement was very cold. I did check around to see why so cold and some of the insulation had either been blown out or fell out from around the basement sill. There was some fiberglass insulation down there so I used all of it to stuff every cold air spot I could find. It appeared that cold air is getting in from outside. It got much better/warmer in there. Once it gets warm out, I am going to fill all the outside holes I can find with the canned spray insulation. That will be one thing I can do myself. Hopefully I won't have to crawl under porches, steps, etc to do it. I want to make it as sealed as I can once it is not this frigid weather. I can't take the cold weather like I used to.

I was confused by one thing. I have a duct pipe that goes into the wall in the basement which I believe goes to the vacant apartment. I could feel really cold air coming in around and under it before I stuffed it with insulation. One of the areas of the outside basement wall in there, has to be allowing a lot of air in. I just need to find it and any other holes and temporarily plug them if I can, before we get another blast of 35 below on Sat or Sun. I never dreamed there was so much cold air getting into the basement. That is my focus right now, to try to deal with that. That will have to make a difference.

1. Annual furnace tune-up.

2. Spray foam insulation around basement sills. I had a company do two basements for $600 each a couple of years ago. Nice difference. As you already noted, this is an area that really lets cold air pore in.

3 . Seal around light fixtures up in attic BEFORE adding blown in insulation. Lots of videos on YouTube about how to do that. I use a tightfitting N-95 mask with filter cartridges anytime I muck about in the attic, and a coverall over my work clothes.

I prefer batt insulation as there is still a good bit of electrical work I would like to have done on my houses, so the batts are easier for Sparky to move and put back.

And, as you have already noted, seal any little openings you can.

Oh, also, the attic scuttle.!

Only one of my little houses had any insulation on the top side of the attic scuttle when I bought them. Houses were all about 70 years old, yet no one had yet thought to insulate the attic door (scuttle). If the attic panel is cheaplymaterial, such as rough plywood, or thin wallboard, you can duct tape a stack of foam insulation to the top side, wrapping the duct tape around the board. Those visual stripes of duct tape ( as seen from the room below) will serve as a good reminder to do a little research and come up with a tight-fitting weather-sealed solution to the attic scuttle.

If the scuttle is nice wood, you can get away with just stacking several pieces of foam insulation on top, taking care to hold the panel flat when closing. Then remember to get weather-strip and secure hooks/clips to make a tight seal when the weather is better. Any insulation on the top side of the attic panel is better than none.

Betcha that cellulose has fallen/sunk down in the cavities. Leaving a void at the top...

My suggestion:

1. get the furnace checked out. I believe they lose like 2% efficiency per year...

OK,...what I get is you're not in the best of health is that right? But you're trying to do all these things by yourself? Do these buildings not produce enough income to be able to hire people to help you in this? There is so much that people can do in just several hours. You've had a ton of advice have you actually read it all?

You know you can buy fairly cheaply a remote thermonter gun from Black & Decker. Not only does it give you a pretty accurate temperature display but when you move it from a cold area to a hot area to a cold one etc, there is a light that changes from red to blue etc. which helps you visualize where cold or hotspots are.not as good as the infrared cameras but still pretty good in picking out cold areas.

You want to foam the outside of your house foundation first? I would concentrate on the inside of your foundation. Foam is good for the bigger cracks/holes but can be kind of messy if you're not used to using it. Seal small cracks/holes with hydraulic cement, or that the DAP aforementioned caulk. Sills are not usually a problem as you can stuff them with fiberglass insulation. But you say you are allergic to fiberglass?,okay get someone to do it they can use a mask, goggles and gloves and stuff them very quickly.I like to use the 6 inch stuff with the paper attached.

Setting up those fans the blow across the furnace exhaust piping pulls a LOT heat into the cellar A cheap way to add heat there.. Okay,.. if it's supercold,. your furnace will be running MOST the time so you could just leave those fans on for now and not have them wired to the flame gun to come on when it comes on for now. Then even on high setting, they don't use a whole lot of electricity. Nothing compared to a electric heater.

You want to do a poor man's heat scan? Do it in your own house, quickiy boil 4 pots of water on your stove for a while use a fan to blow it around to an adjacent room or two. Do this on a very cold day and notice how fast your windows will steam up. That's because they're the coldest thing in your house. Next then notice how the outside walls will get Damp/wet. If you do it fast and perhaps take pictures then shut it all down I've not seen damage to any walls or even wallpaper. If you have a humidity gauge see it go way up and after you turn off the heat off to the water you will beto be surprised how fast it goes right back down because the mass in your house,.. your furnishings etc. will absorb some of that. By the way you'll probably feel better breathing in not so ultra dry air.

The aforementioned air infiltration on crazy cold days have almost no moisture in it and will dry out your wood furnishings and your nasal passages. So the quick humidity will not be a problem and frankly will stay all that long. It's not long enough and high enough to damage your insulation in your walls. But you can see where you're missing any insulation because those areas will get wet/damp first. Again take pictures because your tend to forget exactly where they are.

So hire person or two maybe work with them for a little while showing them how to do things. I'm sure you know that their services are deductible,.. it helps a bit. I stopped trying to do everything myself years ago after I got Lyme and suffered an accident which really mangled my ankle making it more difficult for me to get around. I wouldn't be in this business anymore if I had to do everything myself.

By the way I did most of the things that I have written about to my own house (with exception of having to do bubblewrap on the glass in my house, again,I do it in my big detached heated tool shed) and after I did it I was called by my oil company to ask if I had mostly switched over to heating by electricity because my oil consumption was so low compared to what it had been before,and it wasm't cost effective to have me on auto delivery.

Hollis...I always read ALL the responses to what I post as people took time out of their day or night to respond to help me.

Some replies were somewhat beyond my knowledge. strength or ability to do and a few responses here and elsewhere I don't really understand but yes, I do read everything. .

For a little background, for decades my late finance and I did almost all the work to our properties. I helped him with roofing, siding, aluminum trim, carpentry, carpeting, vinyl flooring and more, back in the day. He knew electricity and plumbing as well, but I prefer professionals deal with electricity, heating and plumbing.

He knew everything about everything and was self taught. I was his helper and learned a lot but after he passed away years ago, I only did less difficult things and now even more simpler things.

My memory is not great now and neither is my strength. It is difficult to lift most things that have much weight to them.

I am doing really basic beginner type jobs now and don't really have the energy, memory or knowledge to do anything remotely more difficult.

I hire what I need to have done but it is getting more difficult. My regular person moved away and it is REALLY hard to find anyone trustworthy who knows what they are doing, to do what I can't.

I was asking about siding to find out what would be the best type. I would be hiring someone to do it. I was just doing some little jobs like stuffing holes, distributing electric heaters to the tenants, changing locks, and today I put plastic on a storm door for a temporary fix where one of the storm windows with frame was gone. It is not a lot of things but trying to prepare for way below zero again this weekend. Hoping it takes a little pressure off the furnace so it doesn't have to run 24/7.

I have never been in any of the attics. They all have just the little square opening in the upper apartment ceilings for access with the cover. I wouldn't even fit through there to do anything or be able to pull myself in, if I could fit. Most people wouldn't.

As far as income producing, they produce a decent amount of income but my expenses for both rentals and personal bills are high so there is not a ton left over for repairs, improvements, etc. Also I have two vacant out of 14 and each vacancy does drop my income to be able to put less away. With property taxes always going up and income taxes due in two months, Those take a chunk as well.

Well on the things you do not understand, have you asked for clarification? I'm pretty sure the original posters would be upset about that and are here trying to help.

There ARE some young people out there willing to help. They are not all lazy. Do have them do anything dangerous, and if you can have them do things that will keep them in some hours a week, like cleaning halls, raking/sweeping etc. If you are worried about injuries ask about workmens comp.

How to find them? One way I have is print up some notices and post them ,and give them to someone at fast food places.

MOST of those people (young or old) really do work hard (or they are soon gone) Do pay them more than Fast food people pay them.

Besides a few weekly chores I let them know they may be called for some help with special tasks.

Oh yes, set things up WHILE YOU HAVE A CHOICE! I'm almost a decade older than you. I suggest you look into some natural anti inflammatories.

Years ago, I couldn’t bend over to touch the floor on the first try. Now, even though I am older, and heavier, I can bend over and put my palms flat on the floor first thing in the morning. Why? Because now that I AM doing more physical things, I CAN do more physical things.

I am NOT chiding you. I AM encouraging you to add little bits of more activity ALL throughout your day. Skritch the kitties ears more often , even if they are laying on the floor. Reach up tall for things. Lift a few things every day. Before this whole shutdown thingie, hubby and I started to go daily to the gym. Big difference, after only a few weeks. We’ve been adding things to our day at home now, as he’s not comfortable going back to the gym. You can add back some of that strength, and your knees, though bad, can be strengthened a bit. I’m dealing with balance issues, ( Menier’s possibly?) but, even small amounts of daily agility training has helped. haven’t had a serious fall in over a year, when I had four serious falls in a short time frame just two years ago. That’s when we got serious about going to the gym. ( still thinking about buying that Sixty Up device for hubby and I to work out at home. And I’m not yet sixty!)

The improvements you made to your buildings JUST THIS WEEK will make a good difference. We’ve given you many, many insulating ideas, more than could be done by a young man, with deep pockets, in a year! Lol!

As for the attic scuttle, yeah, those older ones are a tight fit, but, I am a BIG gal, and I manage to get through all of mine. None of mine are sized to current larger code sizes. Biggest thing in insulating the attic scuttle is getting the heavy ladder into place. Most likely, you could get the attic scuttle door down without going into the attic just using a stepladder. Then you could quickly tape some foam insulation to the top, and get it back up. Just that one thing won’t make the biggest difference though. It’s just one of my pet peeves ( I have a zoo full of pet peeves,* grin* ) You have already hit on some of the biggest improvements: stuffing gaps and holes, plastic over missing storm windows.

Hey Busy,

Have you researched a "wobble board?" Talk to Physical therapist or check them out on youtube.

They actually work pretty fast in helping with better the brain and balance.

At some PT centers they have them in which you are in a sort of cage in case you lose your balance and could fall,..otherwise people CAN use them at home if they take care where they are ie near a wall on one side,bed on the other.

Re the brain, and balance and coordination,..so think of those toys,.the one with a paddle, a rubber elastic string and a rubber ball.

Try to use one,...if you haven't for a while, most people look pretty uncoordinated,.making it bounce 1 or 2 times then missing,..if you practice a bit, doesn't take too long,.it becomes 3 then 4 in a row,..a bit more practice and it becomes 5,6,7 etc,..in a little while you wonder why you thought it was ever hard to do,..you can talk on the phone and do it at the same time,...pretty automatically.

Same as a kid you first try to ride a bike,..can't really do it for a little while then "pop" it becomes coordinated and easy for them to do...

Good idea about the hallway, Steve.

I was thinking hubby could make one this weekend, and I was thinking about where we could use it. Living room has carpet, so it might not wobble as much. Sunroom is concrete, but that room is not heated. Brrrr.....Kitchen is sheet vinyl, and putting all of our weight on two rockers could dent the floor. But, the hallway has old oak flooring. Perfect!

Well getting off track on the original intent of the post but for Busy, here is ONE of many links over on you tub,..maybe not the bust but shows the PT's here using two canes to help (at first) while you are starting doing the brain coordination exercises. After a while they probably won't be necessary, but its still a good idea to use a doorway, as Steve mentioned or near a wall and bed etc.

Also at first,..some people just stand on one foot for a while,..(by the way,...after you are getting good at that,..try to do it with eyes clothes,..you might be surprised how hard it is!

Cat, stuffing fiberglass insulation into holes to stop air infiltration is not an acceptable method. Not the right material. Fiberglass insulation is designed to insulate, not seal air gaps. It needs it proper loft to attain its insulating rate. If compressed it has little insulating value.

Busy has listed the ways I have insulated the attic hatches. But you can also purchase a ready made one. Look for an attic door insulation cover on amazon.

Bubble wrap, even shades, blinds or drapes can help insulate a window. A little foam, felt or fabric along the sill and where double hungs come together can also keep drafts down. The shrink plastic is also great for very leaky windows.

Fortunately, the weather is going to be warmer than earlier predicted- a balmy 5 degrees Fahrenheit for the high today. Heehee.

This week is a good week to drive around and do a visual check , from the warmth and safety of the car. Compare the snow cover on your roof to that of the neighboring houses. If your house has a thick blanket of snow, with no visible roof shingles, that is good. That means heat was not escaping to melt that snow. Make notes of any spots where the snow has melted, or an location with icicles. Those are the spots that need attention, once the weather is better.

We had our front door and front room windows replaced this past summer. The entry room is so much cozier this winter. But, I noticed the roof snow is melting just above where that work was done. My husband remembered he had been mucking about in the attic to disconnect the electrical wires going down that wall. Apparently he didn’t put the insulation back..... one of us will get up there in March or April, tuck the insulation back in place.

Better yet than making note where,...take pictures.

Even better yet, for 200.00 you can get this, to turn your cell phone into a thermo camera..

(you can find leaks or clogs in pipes, heat loss or gains,over heated wires,even insects invasion in wall etc.

flir.com/products/flir-one-gen-3/

here is some other info

tectogizmo.com/4-ways-to-turn-your-cell-phone-into-a-thermal-camera/

LOL Hollis. I am just fine but working on income taxes. The last few years I barely get them done before the deadline so hoping to get them done before Easter this year. I am never organized enough to have anyone else do them. I barely can figure them out on my own because I am not the most organized person (not even remotely close to it).

It is the perfect time to work on them. Too dang cold to go outside or even to drive anywhere, except church this morning.

The 76 yr old tenant that I have in the apartment with the thermostat gets up pretty early, between 3:30 and 4:30. I always ask her to write down the temp in her apt when she first gets up, before she turns on the electric heater that I gave her to use. Then I call and ask her later in the morning, what it was when she got up and what it is now.

She says she has a heavy comforter so she doesn't need the electric heater after she goes to bed. She is also a little uncomfortable letting it run while she is sleeping. Letting me know first thing, gives me an idea of how low the temp went. This is the coldest morning yet. It got down to 62 degrees in the apartment. I hope the vacant one stays warm enough as to not freeze the pipes on the outside wall.

I will be glad when Tuesday gets here and even more so when Wednesday gets here. Tuesday may get up to 13 degrees above and it may hit 20 on Wednesday. I can't wait. It is so bitter cold outside. I hate to even think about going out there for any reason. Great tax day.

Well Cat[Wi]I'm glad to hear that you're alive, sitting up and taking nourishment! Maybe doing Taxes raises your temperature a few degrees too. I hate doing Taxes too but Quicken helps a whole lot for organizing.

You know in the old days, it was common to have a "warm room". A Fireplace, wood stove, electric space heater, or a hot water or steam radiator that was a bit larger in that room.. If radiators,.. sometimes people would turn them off in unused rooms. Being careful to leave those rooms with water pipes heated. But it would allow the furnace to keep up with the rooms with the radiators that were still on. Another trick is to have a fan blowing across the radiator which pulls out a lot more heat from that radiator in the warm room.